Page 49 of Mika's Heart

Chapter 12

Mika

I’ve not seen Atka since we arrived at the hospital. The doctors needed to run some tests and then the FBI wanted to take each of our statements separately.

“Gerald will be held in federal custody until a trial can be set.” Agent Jonas says, closing his notebook.

“And my... I mean, what about Hillary? What will happen to her?” I ask, not really feeling anything for the woman who raised me.

Perhaps if she hadn’t gotten worse as I got older, I’d feel differently.

“Another field agent picked her up about an hour ago. She’ll be processed in the same way for now but having heard the entire story she may need to be evaluated by a psychiatrist.”

“Will I have to testify?” I ask but get interrupted by someone calling my name.

“Mika!” Looking down the hall, I see both Taylor and Arin hurrying my way.

Taylor pulls me into his arms as soon as he gets close to me.

“I thought I had lost you again.” He whispers.

Pulling back from him, I give him a watery smile. “Not this time.”

“Mr. Burns? I’m Agent Jonas. It’s finally nice to meet you face to face.”

“You have them both in custody?” Taylor asks.

Arin pulls me away from the men as they speak.

“We were so worried about you.” She pulls me into a hug. “I can’t believe you went there on your own.”

“He threatened to kill him if I didn’t.” I look down the hall towards Atka’s room.

“Trust me. I more than understand but just know your brother is probably going to read you the riot act.” She smiles when I roll my eyes.

Looking down the hall still, I see the doctor walk out of Atka’s room and I rush over to him.

“How is he?” I ask.

“He has a pretty significant concussion. He’ll need to take it easy for a while but he’ll mend.”

“Will he be okay to fly back home?” Taylor asks from behind me.

“Not yet. We are going to release him today but I suggest waiting a few days before heading back to Alaska. He doesn’t appear to have any brain bleeds but we want to be sure he’s mending first.”

I sigh in relief that he’s going to be okay.

“Thank you Doctor.” Taylor shakes his hand and Arin rubs my arm as tears fall from my eyes once again.

Turning to Taylor, I ask, “What did Agent Jonas say?”

“He’ll be in touch with us about whether they’ll need us to testify or if they need anything else from us. These types of cases take years before they ever go to trial.”

“We should go check on Atka.” I look longingly towards his door.

“Tell you what. You go check on him and wait for his discharge paperwork. We'll make arrangements for where we all can stay for a few days.” Arin says.

Taylor looks like he’s going to argue with her but backs down when she stares hard at him.

I watch as they both head back down the hall and I can’t stop the small grin that takes over my face.

Its great having a brother although I think there will be times that I won’t think it’s that great.

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